New Rules For Uber, Lyft In Chicago

By Lauren Chooljian
Uber Lyft
A driver displaying Lyft and Uber stickers on his front windshield drops off a customer in downtown Los Angeles. Hailing a ride with a smartphone app in many U.S. cities could come down to a fight over fingerprints. Following incidents where Uber drivers were found to have criminal records, a growing number of state and local governments want ride-hailing drivers to undergo fingerprint background checks. Uber and its chief rival, Lyft, have fought those checks, contending their own method of vetting drivers is just as safe. AP File Photo
Uber Lyft
A driver displaying Lyft and Uber stickers on his front windshield drops off a customer in downtown Los Angeles. Hailing a ride with a smartphone app in many U.S. cities could come down to a fight over fingerprints. Following incidents where Uber drivers were found to have criminal records, a growing number of state and local governments want ride-hailing drivers to undergo fingerprint background checks. Uber and its chief rival, Lyft, have fought those checks, contending their own method of vetting drivers is just as safe. AP File Photo

New Rules For Uber, Lyft In Chicago

By Lauren Chooljian

They are some of the most popular Internet-based services going these days: Uber, Lyft and Airbnb. And in Chicago, city officials have reached a compromise agreement on measures that put limits on ride-hailing and short-term rental companies.

On the ride-hailing sites, lawmakers passed a bill that approved licensing rules for drivers. It passed after the member who crafted the rules dropped a requirement that drivers get fingerprint background checks. Said one alderman who supports the measure, “This is the Jetsons. We’re not going back to the Flintstones.”

WBEZ’s Lauren Chooljian reports.